Conversation: Concentric
by NauruAyumi
Summary: Oneshot Momiji, at the Inn where Tohru and Kyo have been married. This would be his chance. Watching the fireworks, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. -Be There-


Concentric

Part Ten and 2/3- Contagious Concepts- A concept for my each of my favorite Furuba pairings. They take place after the reception of Tohru and Kyo's wedding (they're 22, it took him awhile to get the guts to ask her...). It's a moonlit night and there is something contagious in the air.

I'll be posting them as separate one-shots, because the ratings will change between them.

If you enjoy this one, please read my Kakeru x Komaki fic called 'Conference', my Arisa x Kureno fic called 'Content', Yuki x Machi fic called 'Confident', my Kisa x Hiro fic called 'Confess', my Hana x Kazuma fic called 'Congratulations', my Hatori x May fic called 'Concern', my Akito x Shigure fic called 'Conquer', my Ritsu x Mitsuru fic called 'Contender', my Nao x Kimi fic called "Conversation: Conceit", my Aaya x Mine fic called 'Congruent', and my Rin x Haru fic called 'Confront'.

Disclaimer- Furuba isn't mine.

R&R! I'd love to know what you think. No flames please, flames hurt. But kind criticism is appreciated. And this is my interpretation, so if we interpret differently, let's not fight, okay?

This is the second of 3 little drabble-thingys that I'm writing before I finish up with Kyo and Tohru.

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The light of the moon filled him with a strange melancholy as it rose slowly over the treetops. It was still a harvest orange and it was early in the evening so the sky was not yet starry nor black. Some bird that he could not identify keened, the sound flowing through the atmosphere like a sorrowful river.

He couldn't help his sadness, like the silence and the opportunity to sit still and listen to the weeping bird opened the floodgates and let the gentle wash of pain cover him slowly. It was a dull and numbing ache that he was far too used to. He ached this way when his mother forgot him; he ached this way when his father abandoned him. But it wasn't the two of them he wished to be reconciled with.

It was easy when he was alone to lose himself in what he showed no one. Or perhaps, it was being around people that let him forget the unhappiness. People like Tohru who made everything seem okay. He'd even loved her once, just for that. Momiji supposed he would always love Tohru, in a way. She was his mother and his best friend and his cheerleader; he would do anything for her.

So, today, for her, he'd been happy. And it wasn't an act. Seeing everyone together and being able to talk with them and noticing how tall Kisa and Hiro had grown and eating the excellent food was a celebratory occasion, so he celebrated.

There was much to celebrate. Among them, a new baby born to Hanajima and Kazuma. The surprise return of Isuzu from her tour of the world. He played his violin for the wedding party and even the maids and kitchen workers ceased their work to listen to him play. Even Ritchan presented, albeit shyly, his masterpiece garden to the family. While the sun shone on the festivities, Momiji was festive. He was happy. There was beauty and music, sake and dancing. No one could hold an angry face.

But there was a nagging problem at the back of his mind. A possibility that tormented him.

Sitting on the porch outside his room he could see the faint sparkles of fireworks in the village at the foot of the hill atop which the ryokan sat. Distant splashes of pink and blue and green like splashes of fast-fading paint on the gradient wash of the sky. Times like this, he felt helpless. Leaning his chin against his knee he sighed. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to snap out of this funk he was in. Was it better to just get up and go about things like he wasn't preoccupied? Or was it better to confront it, no matter how miserable?

He was thinking such deep things when he heard footsteps nearby. Unconcerned he glanced over to discern their origin, more bored than curious and looking for a distraction. There was a moderately tall shadow standing in the middle of a miniature rock garden, black haired and cloaked in black. Momiji could see, in profile that Megumi Hanajima wasn't looking at him at all but he had the sense that though his eyes weren't looking he was most certainly paying attention.

Momiji had never been afraid of the younger boy. He seemed dangerous in his attire and his manner (so many threats of curses!) but he never did anything to make the violinist less than slightly-less-than-comfortable. However, Momiji didn't like the way he could feel Megumi watching him without turning his head, and perhaps he could help alleviate his minor depression.

"Megumi-kun," The dark boy turned, his empty eyes neither warm nor cold. "Would you care to join me?" Momiji offered without looking away from the pirated fireworks show.

"Yes. That's why I came." Almost supernaturally fast (or maybe he was always closer than he seemed) he hopped up onto the porch to sit rather stiffly beside Momiji.

"You're having troubles." It wasn't really a question and he did not receive an answer but Megumi was not the type to press. Guilty, Momiji stared down at his hands, with their short fingernails and calluses from hours of practice and performance. He reached up to run his fingers over a spot under his chin that he was convinced felt different than the rest of his skin. He wondered if she felt the same thing.

Across the great distance, the finale of the late-summer fireworks show was coming to life- a fountain of color and spark and flame. He was torn between wishing he was there to hear the sky-sundering booms and wishing to be far away. Back home where he would never be tempted.

"Is that a summer festival?" Megumi's voice held no inflection. Somehow, it seemed to be an invitation.

"My sister's there right now on her middle school class trip." He didn't even know the other boy very well. Why was he telling him this?

"Why is that a problem?" Momiji sighed in answer. The whole curse-family-rejection thing was a little hard to explain and he wasn't comfortable with talking about it. Four years later and he couldn't bear to tell people his family didn't want him.

"I've never met her face to face. And she wants to see me." Strangely, Megumi didn't ask about the circumstances.

"Why don't you just sneak out and go down there. There's nobody stopping you."

"There's a violin seminar tomorrow in town that I'm sure she's attending. That would be my chance."

"…" Megumi waited for Momiji to continue and answer his question. Why? Momiji wondered, not sure how to verbalize. It was complicated.

"I suppose… I'm afraid that if we meet once and for all I'll find out that all of this separation really has been in our best interests. Maybe it won't work out after all. Maybe she would be happier if we never met." He paused, his face somber. "I would be a horrible person to destroy that."

"Yes. That would be unforgivably selfish." Momiji somehow felt let down by Megumi's answer. A sparrow flitted down to perch on the ground beneath their seats. It seemed sad that summer would be over so soon.

"But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. You're a good guy. I get the feeling that things will work out your way."

Suddenly, Megumi was standing half-way across the yard, an eerie breeze lifting the edges of his cape.

"Think about it. Make your choice and make sure you have the courage to see it through. Perhaps things will not be easy, but things have never been easy for you, have they?" Momiji got the impression that he was listening to a voice that came from inside himself rather than from the mouth of Megumi. He could only watch thoughtfully as his companion left, fading into the shadows from which he'd arrived.

He remained, pondering, for a half-hour more while the moon rose higher into the sky before he went inside to go to bed.

Jammed vertically between the sliding door and the frame at the entrance of his room was a paper napkin from the reception. He only noticed it by chance, a wayward glance around the sparse but elegant room.

Opening it, he didn't recognize the handwriting, almost juvenile in its messiness.

_If your sister is the charming girl with the blonde hair and the violin case I met in the ice cream shop in town today, think about this. When I asked her why if she would play something, she wouldn't because, in her words, she wasn't as good as her role-model. Asked her who that would be and she told me I wouldn't know him. She said she hoped to see him tomorrow. _

_Be there. _

_Hanajima Megumi_

Momiji read it once. Then twice. Then he laughed out loud, in both elation and disbelief. Megumi hadn't mentioned it once! And when had he put the note in the door? Momiji didn't care. After all this time, all these years, all the silence, she still wanted to see him. He ran his shaking fingers through his hair.

What to do? Sleep? Bounce off the walls? Go find Megumi and interrogate him for more details? Threaten him? Thank him? He was getting hyper with the excitement, it was a high that he knew would be dangerous for him of he couldn't calm down. It would be a terrible sin to stay up all night in his excitement and sleep through the most important engagement of his life.

How could he calm down? Did he want to calm down? His eyes fell on his black violin case and the answer was clear.

As he played the first resounding notes of the 'Wish Upon a Star' arrangement he'd composed to the doors that opened out to the moonlit grounds he closed his eyes and let the brilliant moonlight be the last thing he saw before his thoughts turned to Momo.

No matter how things turned out tomorrow, if she didn't recognize him or her opinion changed of him, it would be okay. He just had to believe in that. He squinted his eyes and as he moved to a series of difficult fast notes he wished on a star.

This time, even alone, he was happy.

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Please R&R! Hope you enjoyed! Next is Kagura, then Kyo and Tohru! Woo!


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